Let's go straight to the floor of the Senate,
where Senator Ted Cruz of Texas is making a point
of order.
Let's listen Constitution to the original understanding of the Constitution
at the time it was ratified and to the explicit
position of the Biden Department of Justice as argued before
the Supreme Court of the United States.
The majority leader's position is asking
members of this Senate to vote on political expediency
to avoid listening to arguments.
The only rational way to resolve this question is actually
to debate it,
to consider the Constitution and consider the law.
The Senator will recognize that the Senate is in a
non debatable position.
The Senator has a right to offer his point of
order
but or his motion. But we are in a non
debatable position and my motion is to change that so
that we can actually debate the law.
If Senators care what the Constitution and law says.
I therefore move that the Senate proceed to close session
to allow for deliberation on the question as required by
impeachment,
Rule 24 and President, Majority Leader.
In our previous consent request,
we gave your side a chance for debate in public
where it should be
and your side objected. We are moving forward.
The question is on the motion.
As for the yeas and nays,
is there a sufficient second?
There is a sufficient
second. The clerk will call the roll.
Miss Baldwin,
Mr. Barrasso.
Mr. Bennett
misses Blackburn.
Mr. Blumenthal.
Mr. Booker.
Mr. Bozeman.
Mr. Braun. Aye,
this is Brett.
Some testing moments there on the floor of the Senate.
Let's get straight to Manu Raja,
who's been watching what's happening.
Manu, A quick back and forth between
Senator Schumer and Senator Cruz.
And now a vote. What are they voting on?
Yeah, this is an effort by the Republicans to try
to push ahead with this trial.
We did expect some of this to happen.
Essentially what Ted Cruz is arguing here,
that there should not be quickly dismissed as a Senate
Democrats are prepared to do and that what this motion
actually would do to actually allow this debate to happen
in closed session, he said.
There actually needs to be a debate over whether or
not Alejandro Mayorkas must be convicted on a high crime
and misdemeanor here.
But the Democrats want nothing to do with this.
They think this is all political.
They don't believe that this rises to the level of
impeachment.
They believe this is simply a policy dispute over the
border and Republicans are going after Mayorkas unfairly.
So that's why you're going to see here on the
Senate floor this to come down mostly along party lines
will be interesting to see if any Republicans or Democrats
to affect in any way.
But we do expect miss
5149 Democratic controlled Senate to essentially quash this Ted Cruz
effort and they'll try to move on to something else
will be another thing to watch is
and what happens after this cause Chuck Schumer is trying
to essentially end this proceeding.
He offered them an agreement coming into this saying we'll
give you a handful of votes on whatever issues you
want to push including calls for a full blown trial.
Republicans didn't want that. There was some that objected to
it because they didn't want to be party to an
agreement that included the end of it,
a dismissal of all these charges.
So instead they're just kind of kind of fueled their
way until eventually getting to Chuck Schumer's motion.
So this is
a opportunity for Republicans if they want to come forward
after this,
offer their own points of order,
try to make their own political points on the floor.
But Democrats are ready to to to beat back every
single one of these motions.
We'll see how many, they're ultimately all on the Republican
side,
but as you heard from Chuck Schumer that he said
we are moving forward,
meaning they're going to vote to eventually kill these two
articles of impeachment whenever they get a chance to do
it.